Marian Johnson
2025-2026 President

The courage to keep learning… 

Some of the most effective leaders I know share one common trait: They never stop learning. 

In our profession, curiosity is not optional. It is an act of courage. The philanthropic landscape continues to evolve, expectations shift, and new ideas challenge long-held assumptions. Choosing to learn, ask better questions, seek broad perspectives, and stretch beyond what feels comfortable is how we remain credible and relevant.  

Angela Altamore
Associate Vice President
BWF

Throughout my 15-plus years as a donor relations practitioner, I spent a good chunk of my time researching and studying industry best practices. Who among us hasn’t been asked to research our “aspirational peers”? (If you haven’t yet, it’s only a matter of time!) One of the things I’ve always appreciated about the donor relations community is how generous we are in sharing what’s working, or in some cases not working, in their shops.

After years of various benchmarking requests across multiple organizations, my then boss used a phrase that still resonates and informs my approach in consulting with donor relations teams: “I am seeking effective practices, not best practices.” It was a small shift in phrasing that fundamentally changed how I approached benchmarking. I began asking different questions:

• Who are our relevant peers; not just our aspirational ones?

• If another organization has ten times the staff and five times the budget than we do, are they really a meaningful comparison?

Bridget Edmonds
Director of Donor Stewardship
The Nature Conservancy in Maine

1. What kind of organization are you doing donor relations in right now?

The Nature Conservancy is an environmental organization that works with communities to clear obstacles and find solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises.

2. What’s a donor relations topic you’re always happy to talk about?

How to surprise and delight a donor.

Nicole Rodriguez, Chair

Building the Conference, Year by Year

The ADRP International Conference is our most visible program and represents the largest investment of volunteer time and staff support across the association. 

At the center of this enterprise is the International Conference Committee, volunteers who partner with the ADRP office to plan and execute the multi-day event. Our mission is simple in wording but significant in scope: deliver a conference experience that meaningfully serves ADRP members, non-members, and sponsors. Therefore, planning a conference of this scale requires structure, collaboration, and sustained effort over time.

Structured Committee Leadership

Macy Russell
Donor Relations Officer
University Advancement, Washington University in St. Louis

Jenny Wolkowitz
Executive Director of Development, Individual Giving
University Advancement, Washington University in St. Louis

Last summer, Jenny Wolkowitz began preparing for a meeting a century in the making. She was engaging the sixth generation of a prolific family to envision the future of their family foundation at WashU. While prior generations had practiced a quiet, steady form of generosity for decades, this newer generation expressed a desire to make more transformational investments. They weren’t just looking for new projects; they sought a philanthropic identity that felt uniquely theirs while remaining anchored in their ancestry.

Jenny worked closely with the Olin Business School to craft a menu of forward-thinking opportunities for the family’s philanthropy. Honoring a hunch that to move forward, it would be helpful to look back, she reached out to Macy Russell, a donor relations officer specializing in bespoke engagement, for help. Their initial plan for a one-page financial summary soon evolved into a genealogical detective story.  

University digital records only reached the 1960s, but Macy presumed a deeper connection than meets the eye. She worked with prospect research to dive into the archives, scouring microfilm and handwritten ledgers until she discovered the seed of the legacy: a $5 gift from a member of the family from the Class of 1925.

Brinton Vincent
Director of Donor Engagement and Stewardship 
Augustana College

1. What kind of organization are you doing donor relations in right now?

I oversee donor relations and stewardship at a private, liberal arts college in the Midwest.

2. What’s a donor relations topic you’re always happy to talk about?

I'm always happy to talk about managing endowed scholarships and engaging students in our meaningful work.

• Southeast Regional Conference: New Orleans

• Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Conference: New York City

• There is no Midwest regional conference in 2026. We’ll see you next year, likely in the Chicago area.

Marian Johnson
2025-2026 President

The Strength of Connection… 

Connection is the heartbeat of our profession. Our work is about building relationships, listening closely, earning trust, and deepening engagement over time. It is in those intentional relationships that meaningful impact becomes possible. 

That same spirit of connection lives here within the ADRP community, across geographies, experiences, sectors, and backgrounds. What makes this organization extraordinary is not simply the knowledge we exchange or the programs we offer. It is the way we show up for one another. We share generously. We challenge thoughtfully. We learn from perspectives different from our own. 

Noёl Schiber, CFRE
Major Gifts Officer
Saint Louis Science Center

Gian Booker
Executive Director, Stewardship, Donor Relations, Communications, and Marketing
University of Maryland Medicine

Donor relations has outgrown its original job description. The field no longer exists merely to close reporting loops or execute gratitude on demand. At its best, donor relations already shapes how development teams build trust, sustain belief in the mission, and secure long-term philanthropic investment.

Yet most organizations still deploy donor relations as a downstream production function.

This gap—between what donor relations could do and how it is actually used—is now the limiting factor in modern philanthropy.

If donor relations professionals are to be strategic partners, we must stop optimizing execution and start designing systems. Systems that scale personalization. Systems that inform fundraising strategy. Systems that connect data, narrative, and donor intent into a coherent experience over time.

Celebrating Service: Volunteer and Member Experience Committee

Volunteers are the heart of ADRP. Every milestone we celebrate—from creating the Fundamentals of Donor Relations course to hosting our first international conference outside the U.S. in 2025—is made possible by members who step forward to lead, collaborate, and serve. Simply put, ADRP thrives because of its volunteers.

Empowering Volunteers at Every Step

The Volunteer and Member Experience Committee (VMEC) plays a central role in ensuring volunteers feel welcomed, supported, and valued throughout their ADRP journey. Our purpose is to enhance the volunteer experience by strengthening the volunteer pipeline and continually evaluating how members engage with and contribute to ADRP. We welcome new volunteers year-round and are committed to creating meaningful, well-supported involvement opportunities.

Marian Johnson
2025-2026 President

Starting with Intention…

I’m not really one for resolutions. I try to embrace opportunities to change and grow throughout the year. That said, heading into this year, I’ve been reflecting on intentions and specifically what it means to lead with intention. The donor relations profession asks us to slow down, listen closely, and act deliberately. Leading with intention isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing what matters most, with clarity and purpose. 

For ADRP, 2026 is a year of focus. We’re building on momentum, aligning our efforts, and sharpening our impact as we implement our new strategic plan. It’s a time to pause, take stock, and choose where to direct our energy next, individually and collectively. 

Most donor relations professionals don’t need more content. We need a clear perspective — without spending hours searching for it. The Hub delivers that monthly. In five minutes, members get distilled insight from peers across industries and career stages: practical approaches, emerging trends, and lessons learned through experience. It’s designed to meet members where you are, right when the work is happening. Most importantly, it’s content for you, by you.

In 2026, each issue will include:

President’s Message: Leadership inspiration.

Voices of Experience: Proven practices and honest lessons

As we reflect on this year’s accomplishments, ADRP extends heartfelt thanks to the professionals who shared their wisdom through the Voices of Experience column. Your insights, stories, and best practices have enriched our community and advanced the donor relations profession. By lending your voice, you’ve created a platform that inspires learning and fosters collaboration across our field. We are grateful for your generosity and commitment to elevating the work we do every day. 

• “I wish someone had told me this sooner.”
• “Others are probably dealing with this, too.”

• “There is a tried and tested option.”
• “That’s a smarter way to handle this.”

Take the Survey

Marian Johnson
2025-2026 President

Some special recognition in this season of thanks…

Continuing with the theme of gratitude as the U.S. Thanksgiving approaches, I extend special appreciation for a member of the ADRP family whose generosity and leadership embody the very best of our community. 

At the conference in Montréal, we announced the 2025 recipient of ADRP’s Volunteer Service Award. The annual award recognizes a current member who, through both current and cumulative efforts, has generously contributed time and energy to advance our Association’s mission and the donor relations profession. This year, I had the great privilege of recognizing someone whose steady, thoughtful leadership has quietly shaped some of ADRP’s most meaningful work in recent years: Holden Scheidel. 

Whether helping to guide our strategic direction or leading the team that turned a shared vision into our Fundamentals of Donor Relations course, Holden’s presence has made ADRP better. What stands out most is not just what Holden has done, but how he does it – with humility, clarity, and deep care for our members, our profession, and ADRP’s future.  

Elizabeth Gray
Philanthropy and Campaign Officer, Tri Sigma Foundation 

My recent ADRP webinar titled Exploring the Power Dynamics Between Donors and Scholarship Recipients emerged from a critical question we rarely ask in donor relations: What do scholarship recipients actually experience when we facilitate donor connections? Fellow donor relations professionals learned of research that directly supports ADRP's mission by challenging us to expand our definition of relationship management beyond the donor-organization dynamic to include the often-overlooked voices of recipients themselves.

Through interviews with 10 University of West Florida scholarship recipients, I discovered something both reassuring and actionable: students don't feel tokenized by donor interactions — they actively want these connections and see them as mutually beneficial. 

The key takeaway? When we apply Relationship Management Theory to the donor-recipient relationship with the same intentionality as we do to donor stewardship, we create authentic engagement that benefits everyone involved. Attendees gained practical strategies for reimagining traditional scholarship events, implementing recipient biography forms, and building communication frameworks that meet students where they are rather than putting them in uncomfortable formal settings.

What made this session unique was centering student voices in a field that typically prioritizes donor preferences. By sharing direct quotes and demographic diversity from my research participants, I offered concrete evidence that our recipients are sophisticated stakeholders who deserve thoughtful relationship design.

Gian Booker
Executive Director, Stewardship, Donor Relations, Communications, and Marketing, University of Maryland Medicine (UM School of Medicine and UM Medical Center) 

Background Info

1. Can you tell us about your career trajectory? How did you come into donor relations as a career? 

I stumbled into fundraising as a college intern after interviewing for a position in HR; the development lead convinced me to join their team. Years later, I chose to build a donor relations program from scratch over an annual giving role, seeing its power as a strategic driver. Since then, I’ve led major gift stewardship, managed compliance, built scalable frameworks, and made donor relations indispensable. 

2. What influenced your interest in and passion for donor relations? 

Ruvimbo Chipazi
Donor Relations Officer, Dalhousie University

Marian Johnson
2025-2026 President

A toast of thanks …

Earlier this month, we celebrated Thanksgiving here in Canada, and I spent it with three generations of family – some born into it and others found over the years – but all intentionally connected. It was a weekend filled with fun, food, and laughter, and moments of gratitude for the people who show up, the stories that connect us, and the traditions we build together. 

It reminded me that family often extends far beyond our homes. Sometimes, it’s the people we choose to gather with – the communities we intentionally create – that shape and sustain us most. In many ways, that’s what ADRP feels like to me. We come together from across the sector and across geographies, with different experiences, cultures, and roles, but united by shared purpose and passion. 

Since the conference, I’ve loved seeing members celebrate connections new and old, shout out to those who inspire us (and those we wish to grow up to be), and share sparks of inspiration and ideas already in action – with ADRP at the heart of so many of those stories.